The main driver behind the reduction is inflation—inflation that politicians created with their irresponsible spending.
A responsible political class would significantly reform the organization. Instead, they will likely continue to give it more power.
In 10 years, the programs' funds will be insolvent. Over the next 30 years, they will run a $116 trillion shortfall.
Excessive government interference in the market hurts consumers and thwarts policy goals. It also gets in the way of the government itself.
It would result in shortages, decreases in productivity, and higher production costs affecting millions of American workers and nearly every consumer.
The higher taxes on small businesses and entrepreneurs could slow growth. Less opportunity means more tribalism and division.
Big corporations and entire industries constantly use their connections in Congress to get favors, no matter which party is in power.
Politicians say they want to subsidize various industries, but they sabotage themselves by weighing the policies down with rules that have nothing to do with the plans.
Politicians' go-to fixes like child tax credits and federal paid leave are known for creating disincentives to work without much impact on fertility.
As legislators refuse to act, benefits will be cut without any possibility of sheltering those seniors who are poor.
Legislators will increasingly argue over how to spend a diminishing discretionary budget while overall spending simultaneously explodes.
If you look closely, you'll find a lot of contradictions.
In 1950, there were more than 16 workers for every beneficiary. In 2035, that ratio will be only 2.3 workers per retiree.
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are still the chief drivers of our future debt. But Republicans aren't touching them.
While some Republicans may have had misguided motivations, a few disrupted McCarthy's campaign in order to enact fiscal restraint. Their colleagues were fine with business as usual.
But partisans are having the wrong debate.
If lawmakers keep spending like they are, and if the Fed backs down from taming inflation, then the government may create a perfect storm.
The Congressional Budget Office projects that future deficits will explode. But there's a way out.
Some people would benefit. Others would lose money or be rendered unemployable.
It's especially outrageous when considering the billions of dollars in fraud that took place thanks to COVID-19 relief programs.
The policy has some bipartisan support, despite the fact that it has mostly been a failure since its inception.
These are the people who showed up when the economy was shut down by the government, working in jobs labeled "essential."
Until next year's, because capitalism is always making things better.
The biggest beneficiaries of economic growth are poor people. But the deepest case for economic growth is a moral one.
With government meddling, many farmers end up doing less with more, and people end up paying more for less.
If the midterms favor Republicans, their top priority needs to be the fight against inflation—whether or not they feel like they created the problem.
The idea that the Fed has the knowledge necessary to control the economy with perfectly calibrated policies was always an illusion.
The free market allows people to cooperate, fix errors, and adapt to changing circumstances.
From immigration to drug reform, there is plenty of potential for productive compromise.
His administration has expanded deficits by $400 billion more than expected, even before we count recent spending.
Businesses are all in favor of competition, tax cuts, and deregulation only until they aren't—meaning only until subsidies might benefit them.
Democrats pander to immigrants but do little to liberalize the system. Meanwhile, Republicans' hostility to immigrants has increased.
This fiscal irresponsibility throws gasoline on the country's already raging inflation fire.
Government should not penalize investment, thwart competition, discourage innovation and work, or obstruct production.
From student debt cancellation to green subsidies, the White House is giving handouts paid for by hardworking lower-wage Americans.
From cronyist subsidies to an unfair tax code, there are several key fixes Congress could make to better serve the public.
Why should we believe that this boondoggle will produce better results than hundreds of other corporate welfare programs?
Many conservatives no longer appear to care much for fiscal conservatism.
More airline workers and more flights—not bailouts and restrictions on mergers—is the better policy.
If you believe that moving most of our chip production onshore is good for national security, you should labor for regulatory reforms rather than subsidies.
Government often proves to be biased against large, successful companies that legislators don't understand well but customers love.
Just as you don't attract bees with vinegar, you don't attract corporations by promising to tax them heavily.
Here's hoping we don't wind up with more of the spending and favoritism that's become so common.
Bureaucrats say they want to save lives. But they're moving to block a tool that is proven to help smokers quit entirely.
The inconvenient truth behind all the COVID-19 relief fraud and waste is that these government programs never should have been designed as they were.
Interest rates and servicing costs could push us into worrisome territory sooner than we think.
Despite a few encouraging analyses, the numbers just don't add up.
The president's argument is amazing for its tone-deafness, inconsistent thinking, and sheer economic ignorance.